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From Commonwealth Court’s ruling:
“Here, such an analysis was undertaken by the Honorable John E. DiSalle of the Court of Common Pleas of Washington County, filed July 26, 2011, in Fort Cherry School District v. Acton, No. 2010-719, and we find no basis to overturn his decision.
Accordingly, we affirm the trial court's order on the basis of that opinion.”
HONORABLE BONNIE BRIGANCE LEADBETTER, President Judge,
HONORABLE ROBERT SIMPSON, Judge and
HONORABLE PATRICIA A. McCULLOUGH, Judge.
FORT CHERRY SCHOOL DISTRICT v. ACTON
Fort Cherry School District, Appellant,
v.
Robin Acton and/for Trib Total Media and Pennsylvania Office of Open Records.
No. 842 C.D. 2011.
Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania.
Argued: November 14, 2011.
Filed: February 8, 2012.
Commonwealth Court’s Ruling available in its entirety here: http://www.leagle.com/xmlResult.aspx?xmldoc=In%20PACO%2020120208584.xml&docbase=CSLWAR3-2007-CURR
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The authors of this blog agree with Trib’s attorney, David Strassburger, "In our view, this has been a dispute that really should not have gone this far."
This has been nothing more than a drain on school finances, and to what end?
Once again, the administration is doing its best to keep public information from the taxpayers of this school district.
Taxpayer money was expended to file these appeals, yet the board has never voted to approve this expenditure in a public meeting.
Once again the school solicitor has encouraged the board to enter into a legal dispute and then reaped the benefits of billing the district for legal representation.
In the past few years, Maeillo, Brungo & Maeillo has represented the District and the administration in multiple lawsuits - many of which were unnecessary had the school simply done the right thing instead of challenging residents for various reasons.
In the Trib case, MB&M and the District have maintained that FC cannot provide the information in electronic format. However, the certified computer examiner from the Trib has proven that the information is readily available. The certified computer examiner’s affidavit attesting to the availability of the information is shown at the end of this post.
The issue isn’t whether the District is able to provide the information . . . the real issue is whether the District wants to release the information at all.
This is the Trib’s RTK request.
All documents requested by the Trib are public documents.
The Trib requested documentation that could provide greater insight into many of the issues brought up on this blog.
Using the limited resources available to the authors of this blog, many of the administration and board member’s questionable practices have been brought to light.
Just imagine what the Trib could uncover with its available resources.
Trib’s RTK:
1. “Payroll/salary information for the 2005-2006, 2006-2007, 2007-2008, 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 school years that would include the names and positions of all district employees, teachers and administrators, their base salaries and their actual salaries, including overtime payments, bonuses and payments for additional duties, coaching or sponsoring teams, clubs or other activities.”
Blog:
A resident made a right-to-know request for administrative payroll/salary information. This information was presented in previous posts:
On February 23, 2012, Judge Robert Simpson of Commonwealth Court overturned the Court of Common Pleas order to release the W-2s and 1099s of FC administrators
Judge Simpson’s opinion can be found here: http://www.pacourts.us/OpPosting/Cwealth/out/1038CD11_2-23-12.pdf
This is a win for MB&M, the school board, and Dinnen, but a loss for the taxpayers. Thousands of taxpayer dollars were expended to keep administrative compensation information from the public – something that we, as FC taxpayers, have a right to know.
Trib’s RTK:
2. “Names of district employees or board members permitted to sign checks.”
Blog:
Questionable checks were presented in a previous post: http://fortcherryinfo.blogspot.com/2011/07/dont-ask-dont-tell-dont-email-me.html
Trib’s RTK:
3. “Names of district employees or board members who are bonded, those bond amounts and the annual costs of those bonds to the district.”
Blog:
Questions about the bonding were presented in a previous post: http://fortcherryinfo.blogspot.com/2011/10/fc-school-board-practicing-prudent.html
Trib’s RTK:
4. “Line item budgets showing actual revenues and all expenditures, including all checks written for the 2005-2006, 2006-07, 2007-2008, 2008-09 and 2009-10 school years.”
Blog:
Questionable accounting practices have been brought to light in this blog using some of the very same documentation the Trib is requesting.
The documentation shows that Dinnen, Sroka, Craig, and Jacoby have been very creative with the accounting codes.
Could it be that the release of “line item budgets showing actual revenues and all expenditures” would completely expose how they have been abusing taxpayer money?
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The Trib is requesting public documents about public money – our tax dollars.
Why has the District spent well over $12,000 of our tax dollars to fight the release of this public information?
What is in that public documentation that the District does not want to Trib and the public to see?
What is the District trying to hide?
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Affadavit from the Trib’s certified computer examiner:
